Eagles organization is unwilling to be flexible

As de facto head of football operations, however, Andy Reid was seen by most fans as the Asante Samuel  one to decide which players would be signed, drafted, or cut.  In this regard, Reid has been lambasted for his moves of cutting older veterans who were fan favorites.

Banner's main role, supposedly, was to help Reid build his roster in a cap friendly manner.

Now, though, it appears that Reid has lost some of the juice he had in decision making. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, members within the organization feel that Banner has become "the boss" and recent decisions were more of his choosing (as well as Banner protégé GM Howie Roseman) than Reid's.

If this is the case, fans should be worrying about the qualifications of Banner and Roseman.

Reid, although a terrible game-day coach, is one of the best personnel guys in the business. He has to be, because the Eagles jerseys organization is unwilling to be flexible in accordance to issues with the salary cap.

He knows when to let people go. Everyone who fretted the losses of Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Hugh Douglas, and others, soon forgot those names as they entered the twilight of their careers.

Reid knew that he had drafted the proper replacements to continue the success of his system. Obviously, he has not been perfect with his selections (i.e. Jerome McDougal, Freddie Mitchell), but overall he can be seen as someone who knows how to put together a roster.

Banner, on the other hand, has been both detrimental and helpful to the roster. His quest to win the salary cap championship every year ruined any chance for Donovan McNabb to succeed during the prime of his career.

Instead of drafting impact skill position players, Reid was forced to draft for the future, knowing that his star players were going into their mid-30s and they weren't going to keep them anyway

Nico was a huge soccer fan. He played varsity soccer. He played all through school... high school," explained Nico's mother, Audrey Berg Clothier.

16-year-old Nico Clothier of Haverford was a soccer standout until an accident last fall that permanently sidelined him. DeSean Jackson Jumping into a pile of leaves while on a community service trip, Nico suffered a serious neck injury, then a stroke. Today, he is quadriplegic. He cannot play soccer anymore... but he can still cheer.

"Oh it was great. I loved watching them practice," said Nico.

Today, at the invitation of the Philadelphia Eagles, Nico got to watch one of soccer's most stored teams practice. Manchester United was in town to take on the Philadelphia Union in a game Wednesday night. Organized by the Make a Wish Foundation, Nico was able to go where most fans of the sport can only dream. In fact, he had dreamed about this moment many times, only not quite this way.

"I didn't think I'd get that close, until I joined them," said Nico.

But this surprise wasn't all the Eagles had in store. For this avid soccer fan, whose wheelchair can't contain his smile, they had something even "suiter".

Eagles COO Don Smolenski told Nico, "Wednesday night. Your family, your friends... we're going to provide you with a suite at our cost. We'll entertain you, and host you for a great event."

A great event for what everyone describes as a great kid. He may be paralyzed, but his heart still ticks for this team... which Wednesday night play for him.

"It's tremendous!" said Audrey. "It's certainly, you know, we never expected anything like this. This was really just a lovely, lovely, lovely surprise."

Even though Owens was the team's best receiving threat in the 2004 season, it still didn't help his situation when the subject of a new contract arose—in fact, his antics put a void stamp on all his success with the Eagles.

That is why the Eagles new standout WR DeSean Jackson's silence is extremely important.

It is also vital that he says all the proper things when being interviewed—which to date he has done a stand up job at doing.

DeSean knows the Eagles would be crazy not to extend his contract long term, but he also realizes now is not the right time to even hint of demanding more money.

Jackson is also fully aware that because he wouldn't exceed a thirty percent increase due to the ongoing CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) negotiations, he might as well stay silent and prove his value on the field.

He also realizes that if he has two consecutive seasons of excellence, after having a jaw dropping sophomore season with the Eagles, it will sky rocket his stock value.

If he would somehow get overlooked for the 2010 Pro Bowl but manages to increase his production, that demands more money without having to say a single word.

Even if he simply mirrors his 2009 success, wouldn't you say, "Yep, this kid is more than worth it?"

DeSean has gone about his business as a true professional even with all the talk about the possibility that his counterpart Jeremy Maclin becoming the No. 1 threat, he's graciously done everything the Eagles organization has asked of him.